WEDDING SERVICES (Compiled by Revs Maureen and Carl Thitchener) CEREMONY PROCESSIONAL OPEN

                WEDDING SERVICES
(Compiled by Revs Maureen and Carl Thitchener)

CEREMONY  

PROCESSIONAL

OPENING WORDS  (Select one or more of following.)

A-1

Marriage is a relationship which embodies all the warm and precious
values that grow out of human companionship and love.  We enter it
joyfully and in the knowledge that love is both our highest achievement
and life's most precious gift.  Into this relationship with deep
commitment and high expectations BRIDE and GROOM come now to join
themselves.

A-2

The miracle of love is like the miracle of a flower, it thrives upon the
sunshine of a smile...it entwines itself around the heart. Its roots are
secured in the memories of yesterday and its petals breathe the promise
of joy-filled tomorrows. To be loved is to know happiness and
contentment.  To give love is to know the joy of sharing oneself.  It is
through the miracle of love that we discover the fullness of life.

A-3


What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they
are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to minister
to each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness,
to be one with each other in the silent unspeakable memories?


A-4

Marriage is the joining of two people-the union of two hearts.  It lives
on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the
joy of each new day...Marriage is love.  May you always be blessed in
your hearts with the wonder of this special day.  May you always be able
to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other,
to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace, when
the day is done.  May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness.

       STATEMENTS OF INTENTION (Select one of the following if desired.)

B-1

BRIDE and GROOM, you have invited us to witness the happiness that you
have found in each other.  Are you ready to make the pledges to which
you commit yourselves to each other in love?  (Answer: "Yes")

B-2

BRIDE and GROOM, you have carefully considered the beauty and
obligations assumed when lives are wed.  Are you now prepared to enter
into this covenant of love?  (Answer:   "Yes")

B-3

BRIDE and GROOM, have you come to be joined in the spirit of shared
love?

(Answer:   "Yes")

B-4

BRIDE and GROOM, do you come before us to be joined in matrimony?
(Answer:"Yes")

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS (Select one of following if
desired)

C-1

Who presents this woman to be married to this man?

Answer:    "I do"  or  "We do"

C-2 

Do you, FATHER, stand with this couple to bestow the approval of their
families and friends? Answer:     "Yes"

C-3

As our sons and daughters find partners and found homes for the next
generation, each family is enriched and enlarged.  Do you, who have
nurtured these two, bestow your blessing on their union and their
family?

Answer:     "I do" or "We do"

C-4

It is appropriate that you,. the family and friends are here to
participate in this wedding.  The ideals, the understanding, and the
mutual respect, which these two bring to their marriage have roots in
the love, friendship, and guidance, with which you have provided them.

(No answer is required.) 


              READINGS (Select one or more of the following)

D-1

We are gathered here to join this man and this woman in marriage. This
is an act as ancient as the history of the human race and as new as each
new morning; for it speaks of the past and of the future, of the life of
the individual and the existence of the community. Because marriage is
concerned with the most fundamental of human relationships, it must not
be regarded lightly. Those who enter into this relationship shall
cherish for each other a mutual esteem and love, bear each other's
infirmities and weaknesses, comfort each other in sickness, trouble and
sorrow, encourage each other in trials of the spirit, and live together
as the heirs of life. Marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly,
but with devotion and discretion.  Love and loyalty will avail as the
foundation of a happy and enduring home; and if the solemn vows you are
about to make be kept with honor and integrity, your life will be full
of peace and joy, and the home you are establishing will be one of
warmth and understanding.

D-2

Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God, and this
company, to join this man and this woman in the holiness of marriage.
They shall give to each other a vow, loving and loved, testifying before
us the blending of their ways and the wedding of their hearts.  Before
us they come together in that estate of marriage which has been
treasured and made honorable by faithful keeping, and which, in the
presence of God, before whom the secrets of all hearts are disclosed,
people have entered into reverently, sincerely, and soberly, and in the
joy that comes to those who truly love.

D-3

When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the
same way from moment to moment.  It is an impossibility.  It is even a
lie to pretend to.  And yet this is exactly what most of us demand.  We
have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, and of
relationships, we leap at the flow of the tide, and resist in terror its
ebb.  We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity, when the only
continuity possible, in life, as in love, is in growth, in fluidity, in
freedom -- in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as
they pass, but partners in the same pattern.  For relationships, too,
must be like islands.  We must accept them for what they are here and
now, within their limits -- islands, surrounded and interrupted by the
sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.  One must
accept the security of the winged life, of the ebb and flow of
intermittency.

D-4

Love one another, but make not a bond of love; let it rather be a moving
sea between the shores of your souls.  Fill each other's cup, but drink
not of the same cup.  Give one another of your bread but eat not from
the same loaf.  Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one
of you be alone.  Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they
quiver with the same music.  Give your hearts, but not into each other's
keeping, for only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand
together, yet not too near together; for the pillars of the temple stand
apart, and the oak and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow. But
let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the
heavens dance between you.

D-5

Though I speak with the tongues of humanity and of angels and have not
love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.  And though I
have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.  Whether there be tongues,
they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. And
abideth faith, hope and love -- these three. But the greatest of these
is love

D-6

It takes years to marry completely two hearts, even of the most loving
and well matched.  A happy wedlock is a long falling in love.  Young
persons think love belongs only to the brown-haired and crimson-cheeked.
And so it does, for its beginning.  But the golden marriage is a part of
love which the wedding day knows nothing of.  Very few are married
totally, and then only after many years of growth in wisdom and
understanding. Such a large and sweet fruit is a complete marriage that
it takes a long summer to ripen in, and then a long winter to mellow and
season it. But a real and happy marriage of love and judgment between a
sincere and loving woman and man is one of the things so very good that
if the sun were, as the Greeks fabled, a God, he would stop the world
and hold it still now and then in order to look all day long on some
example of such a marriage, and feast his eyes on the very spectacle of
it.

D-8

BRIDE and GROOM, you have come to this celebration with an awareness
that your marriage will have its rewards and its joys, as well as
sorrows. Your lives will be intertwined with your children (names), and
it would be unrealistic to assume that you will all always live in
harmony. However, as you have already established a strong foundation
for a family life, you will be able to meet future challenges with
humour, understanding and compassion. May you, by example, help your
children to grow into self-reliant adults, and in turn, may you learn
from them, fully appreciating their youthfulness.

D-9

BRIDE and GROOM, we know that you come from two great religious
traditions which are neither contradictory nor antagonistic because
their aims are the same - compassion, kindness, respect and a love of
family and God. However, marriage need not be a melting pot in which
differences cease to exist, and as you become a married couple you bring
together in a mysterious yet happy way, two pasts, differing in
traditions. Build on them, for the strength of any people lies in
spirituality, however this may be defined. And with the support and
encouragement each of you can give to the other, you will be able to
develop new personal dimensions, adding new memories and new hopes to
those you are bringing into this union.

              VOWS (Select one of the following.)

E-1

I, GROOM /take you, BRIDE/to be the wife of my days/ to be the mother of
my children/ to be the companion of my house./  We shall keep together
what share of trouble and sorrow our lives may lay upon us/ and we shall
share together our store of goodness and plenty and love.

I, BRIDE /take you, GROOM /to be the husband of my days/ to be the
father of my children/ to be the companion of my house./  We shall keep
together/ what share of trouble and sorrow our lives may lay upon us/
and we shall share together our store of goodness and plenty and love.

E-2

I, GROOM  /take you, BRIDE /to be my wedded wife/to have and to hold/
from this day forward/ for better, for worse/ for richer, for poorer/ in
sickness and in health/ to love and to cherish, til death do us part/
with my whole heart/and with my earnest and complete devotion/ I give
you my love.

I, BRIDE /take you, GROOM/to be my wedded husband/to have and to
hold/from this day forward/for better, for worse/ for richer, for
poorer/ in sickness and in health/ to love and to cherish, til death do
us part/ with my whole heart/ and with my earnest and complete devotion/
I give you my love.

E-3

I, GROOM/take you, BRIDE /to be my wife/ to love you and to cherish you/
to help you and to honor you/ to give you understanding and comfort/ in
whatever the future may bring/ in confidence that together/ we are
responsible for our destiny.

I, BRIDE /take you, GROOM/to be my husband/ to love you and to cherish
you/ to help you and to honor you/ to give you understanding and
comfort/ in whatever the future may bring/ in confidence that together/
we are responsible for our destiny.

E-4

I, GROOM /take you, BRIDE--/to be no other than yourself/ loving what I
know of you/ trusting what I do not yet know/ with respect for your
integrity/ and faith in your love for me/ through all our years/ and in
all that life may bring us.

I, BRIDE /take you, GROOM / to be no other than yourself/ loving what I
know of you/ trusting what I do not yet know/ with respect for your
integrity/ and faith in your love for me/ through all our years/ and in
all that life may bring us.

 RING EXCHANGE   (Select one of following if desired.)

F-1

A circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth, and of the universe.
It is a symbol of wholeness, and perfection, and of peace. The rings you
give and receive this day, then, are symbols of the circle of shared
love into which you enter together as husband and wife.

F-2

May these rings which you give and receive this day be a symbol of true
faith in each other, and always remind each of you of the love you share
on this day.

F-3

May God bless these rings you are about to give and receive this day as
a symbol of your abiding love for each other and God's love for each of
us.

(Select one of following if desired.)

G-1

"With this ring I thee wed."

G-2

"I give you this ring to wear as a symbol of our love for each other."

G-3

"With this ring, I marry you, and to you I will be true, as long as we
both shall live."

          PRONOUNCEMENT (Select one of following.)

I-1

Forasmuch as GRO0M and BRIDE have consented together in marriage,
declaring their love for one another, they are now husband and wife.

I-2

Forasmuch as GROOM  and BRIDE have grown in knowledge and love of one
another, and because they have agreed in their desire to go forward in
life together, seeking an even richer, deepening relationship, and
because they have @pledged to meet sorrow nd joy as one family, we
rejoice to recognize them as husband and wife.

I-3

Forasmuch as GROOM and BRIDE have thus pledged themselves to each other
in the presence of God and this company, I do now, by the virtue of the
authority vested in my by the church and the state, pronounce that they
are husband and wife.

WORDS OF CELEBRATION AND/OR PRAYER (Select one or more of the
following.)

J-1

     We rejoice this day in the marriage of GROOM and BRIDE.  We
celebrate the love that brought them to this day.  With love that
deepens through many years, may they know its meaning and its mystery -
how we become truly one in sharing ourselves with one another, and yet,
remain truly two in our own uniqueness. May your house be a place of
happiness for all who enter it, a place where the old and the young are
renewed in each other's company, a place for growing, a place for music,
a place for laughter.  And when shadows and darkness fall within its
rooms, may it still be a place of hope and strength for all who enter
it, especially for those who may be entrusted to your care.  May no
person be alien to your compassion.  May your larger family be the
family of all humankind.  And may those who are nearest to you and
dearest to you constantly be enriched by the beauty and the bounty of
your love for each other. (Amen)

J-2

Let us Pray: Eternal God, creative source of life, in the midst of which
we live and move and have our being; in thy name are we met together, to
witness and to bless the union of these two lives. May they be a
blessing and comfort, each to the other, sharers of each other's joys,
consolers of each other's sorrows, helpers of each other, in all the
chances and changes of the world.  In perfect love and creative peace,
may they keep themselves, fulfilling in their very beings of the law of
creative life. (Amen)

J-3

Let us Pray: We ask for rich blessings upon GROOM and BRIDE who in the
presence of eternity and in the sight of this company have pledged unto
each other all that mind and heart can give.  May they ever remain
faithful to the vows taken this day.  In serenity of spirit may they
learn to face with courage and patience whatever afflictions may be
visited upon them or those whom they love.  For better, for worse, for
richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, may the love which they
have for one another grow in meaning and strength until its beauty is
made manifest in a common devotion to all that is compassionate and
lifegiving. Learning to serve on another in a partnership of love, may
they learn to serve the highest ends of humanity itself, and thus become
witnesses to the sacredness of life in the midst of each common day.
(Amen)

J-4

May the blessing that rest upon all who love, rest also upon you and
fill you with all spiritual grace.  May the bond that unites you ever be
strengthened. May you so love and work together in the days that are to
come that your lives shall be enriched and ennobled by a true and
deepening comradeship of mind and heart.

J-5

And now, may the confidence, trust, and affection you have for each
other on this day, sustain you as you go forth upon your journey of life
together with its joy, its laughter, its sorrow and its pain.  May you
find together the loftiest that is in the universe.  May you dwell
together in peace, love and joy.


J-6

BRIDE and GROOM, marriage is the joining of two people-the union of two
hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old,
but thrives on the joy of each new day...Marriage is love. May you
always be blessed in your hearts with the wonder of this special day.
May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to
laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of
quiet and peace, when the day is done.  May you be blessed with a
lifetime of happiness.

EMBRACE 

RECESSIONAL

(BRIDE and GROOM exit followed by members of the wedding party and the
minister)

        EXTRA OPTIONS IF DESIRED

XC-1


 CANDLELIGHTING CEREMONY 

For over three thousand years human beings have used candles as a source
of light.  They are also symbols of warmth, of hope, and of life itself.
GROOM and BRIDE, you have entered into a union which is most sacred,
requiring of those who enter into it a complete and unreserved giving of
self.  It will bind you together  in a relationship so close, and so
intimate that it will profoundly affect your whole future. (Minister
lights BRIDE and GROOM's candle) Would you now each, from your own
candle, light a third as a symbol of your new relationship.

(BRIDE and GROOM light third candle)

(BRIDE & GROOM):  "We shall this day light such a candle as we trust
will never be put out."

XC-2

As this day you have made a new light together may you also continue to
recognize that separateness from which your relationship has sprung. May
the lights of your own special lives continue to feed the new flame of
love which can make your future, with its hopes and disappointments, its
successes and its failures, its pleasures and its pains, its joys and
its sorrows, a future filled with warmth and love.

XC-3

Not from pride, but from humility as mortals, with human weaknesses and
strengths, you stand together today and promise faith as symbolized by
this light.  Your will find your faith as you live each moment
consecrated to a search for truth and aided by the light of your love
for each other.

CEREMONY OF THE WINECUP

XW-1

The years of life are as a cup of wine poured out for you to drink. The
cup of life contains within it the sweet wine of happiness, joy, hope
and delight.  The same cup, at times, holds the bitter wine of
disappointment, sorrow, grief, and despair.  Those who drink deeply of
life invites the full range of experiences into their being.  This cup
is symbolic of the pledges you have to made to one another to share
together the fullness of life. As you drink from this cup, you
acknowledge to one another that your lives, until this moment separate,
have become one vessel into which all your sorrows and joys, all your
hopes and fears, all you dreams and dreads, will be poured, and from
which you will find mutual sustenance.  Many days you will sit at the
same table and eat and drink together.

Drink now, and may the cup of your lives be sweet and full to
overflowing. (Present glass to GROOM, he will sip and pass it to BRIDE.)

XW-2

This cup of wine symbolizes the cup of life; it can be bitter and it can
be sweet. By sharing it, you undertake to share the sweet as well as the
bitter moments life brings. (Present glass to GROOM, he will sip and
pass to BRIDE>)

XW-3 

The sanctity and harmony of marriage are as  fragile as glass; and just
as one blow can shatter it, so they too can be shattered by acts of
thoughtlessness and infidelity. Treasure your marriage and temper it
with the strength of your love.

 (If desired, glass can now be broken, and all those present shout
"Mazeltov" and "Good Luck!)